Rithum (ChannelAdvisor) 3PL integration
ShipFlow for Rithum
Sellers who run their marketplaces and webstores through Rithum's ChannelAdvisor connect that account to the warehouse that ships for them. Ready-to-ship orders from every channel become warehouse orders in one stream, shipments go back with tracking per item, and quantities follow available stock at the distribution centre.
What the connection does
- The seller authorises the warehouse's application from ChannelAdvisor. ShipFlow stores the resulting refresh token encrypted for that client and never shows it again.
- Every ten minutes ShipFlow reads orders in the seller's profile with checkout complete, payment cleared and shipping not yet started, updated since the last poll. Each becomes a warehouse order under its ChannelAdvisor order id, with the channel's order number as the reference, the ship-to address and the requested shipping class as the shipping method.
- Lines are matched to warehouse items by SKU, then by the product's UPC as a barcode, then by the connection's item links. Anything that cannot be matched is held for a person, never guessed.
- When the warehouse ships, ShipFlow reports the shipment on the order with carrier, shipping class, tracking number and the items and quantities that left. A partial shipment reports only those items; the rest follows when it ships.
- When available stock changes for an item on the connection, ShipFlow sets that SKU's absolute quantity at the distribution centre. Stock is never read from ChannelAdvisor into the warehouse. Sending anything back can be switched off by the warehouse for the whole connection; while off, every outbound update is logged as skipped.
- Every poll, shipment and quantity update is a line in the run log the seller and the warehouse both see, with ChannelAdvisor's answer when one failed.
How a seller authorises it
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the ShipFlow portal, Integrations, and choose Connect on the Rithum (ChannelAdvisor) card. A profile id can be given when the account has several profiles; otherwise the first is used. |
| 2 | The browser goes to ChannelAdvisor. Sign in with a user of the seller account and approve access for the warehouse application (orders and inventory, with offline access so it keeps working). |
| 3 | ChannelAdvisor returns the browser to the portal. The connection appears in the connected table with its setup steps: authorisation, profile, distribution centre and orders access. |
| 4 | Map shipping methods and carriers on the connection, and ask the warehouse to switch sending back on when you are ready for shipments and quantities to flow. |
If ChannelAdvisor ever stops accepting the stored authorisation, the connection is marked reconnect required on the seller's card and in the warehouse's view. Reconnect runs the same authorisation for the same connection, and item links, the shipping map and history are kept.
API calls used
| Area | Endpoint | When ShipFlow uses it |
|---|---|---|
| OAuth | POST api.channeladvisor.com/oauth2/token | At authorisation: the code from ChannelAdvisor becomes a refresh token, stored encrypted for the client. Before every batch of calls: a short-lived access token from it. |
| Profiles | GET /v1/Profiles | On connect: the seller's ChannelAdvisor profile the connection works in. |
| Distribution centres | GET /v1/DistributionCenters | On connect: the distribution centre quantities and shipments are reported against (the first centre the seller manages, unless one is set). |
| Orders | GET /v1/Orders | Every poll (10 minutes by default): orders with checkout complete, payment cleared and not yet shipped, updated since the last poll, with their items. Orders cancelled since the last poll are read the same way. |
| Products | GET /v1/Products | When an order line's SKU is new to the connection: the product's UPC, so the line can match a warehouse item by barcode. |
| Orders | POST /v1/Orders({id})/Ship | When the warehouse ships: carrier, shipping class, tracking number, the distribution centre and the items and quantities that left. One call per shipment, so a partial shipment reports only what shipped. |
| Product bulk | POST /v1/ProductBulk/UpdateQuantity | When available stock changes for an item on the connection: the absolute quantity for that SKU at the distribution centre. |
Nothing else is called. ShipFlow does not create or edit products, listings or prices, and reads buyer details only for orders it will fulfil.
Cancellations
An order cancelled in the channel after it reached the warehouse is never cancelled automatically. It appears in the seller's Orders waiting list naming the channel, stays there through any retry, and a person releases the warehouse order or keeps it.
CommerceHub and Dsco
Rithum's drop-ship product, CommerceHub and Dsco, is a different API from ChannelAdvisor. ShipFlow's connection today is for ChannelAdvisor accounts. A retailer programme on CommerceHub or Dsco is set up with the warehouse against that programme's own API; ask the warehouse, and say which product your account is on.
Support
Sellers are supported by their warehouse first; the warehouse is supported by 3PL TechFlow at support@3pltechflow.com. See also ShipFlow for Amazon, ShipFlow for Mirakl, the privacy policy and the security overview.